Evan Warwick (BBA ’18) discusses the BEST contest’s winning idea that he and teammate Chris Houben (B.A. ’17) presented to judges from the university and business communities. Their pitch was for a retail campaign they hope to implement on campus.
Bringing Out the BEST
New campus contest brings business and English students together to find solutions BY JANE BURNS | PHOTOS BY PAUL L. NEWBY II
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n the real world people with different skills work on problems together to find a solution, not to earn a grade. Providing that kind of authentic experience is among the goals of a contest that connects students from the Wisconsin School of Business and the UW–Madison Department of English. Business and English Students Together (BEST), which took place in
March 2017, brings undergraduate students together to use their diverse skills and collaborate to solve a real-world problem. “It gets them out of their realm and challenges them to translate their disciplinary knowledge to another,” says Chris Dakes, director of educational innovations and learning design at the Wisconsin School of Business. “Often we think if you get marketing, accounting,
18 | UW–Madison Wisconsin School of Business
and finance together that’s crossdisciplinary, and it is if we limit our thinking to business. When we bring someone from business and English together, we really cross disciplinary bounds and deepen our learning and skills.” This year was the second for the contest. The funding and idea for it came from Alan Chesler (B.S. ’85, M.S. ’87), a WSB real estate alumnus who is co-founder of Ehrenberg